Water Pathways and Chemistry at the Groundwater/Surface Water Interface to Lake Skjervatjern, Norway

Abstract

Macropore flow at the groundwater/surface water interface to a humic lake and the seepage fluxes through the lake bottom were measured, as well as was the groundwater chemistry. With a 100‐fold difference in discharge from the lake, the seepage rates through the lake bottom differed by only 15%, indicating that macropores provided a major part of the inflow during high‐flow events. Two larger macropores had flow rates between 0.3 and 0.7 L s−1, corresponding to velocities of 1–3 m min−1. The flow rates of four smaller macropores were recorded to only 0.02–0.1 × 10−4 L s−1. One of the larger macropores had water with high concentration of alkalinity, Ca and Si in dry periods, whereas during wet periods dissolved organic carbon was elevated and pH was depressed. This is a indication of different source areas depending on the rainfall rate. As the alkalinity/chloride ratios were lower in the macropores than in the peat water, acid groundwater seemed to find a shortcut directly into the lake.

Hydrochemistry and hydrology of forest riparian wetlands

“…11). This is presumably a bypass flow in the peat, more or less directly from the upstream till area, as was observed in another investigation (Norrström and Jacks, 1996). The nitrate reduction during the coldest months, January and February, was of the order of 30-50% in Luntoma (Table 1).…”

“…In Luntorna, seepage rates were measured in the stream bed using seepage meters (Norrström and Jacks, 1996). In Högåsen, the temperature was measured on one occasion during the summer to detect channelled inflow of groundwater.…”

Peatland hydrology and carbon release: why small-scale process matters

“…Baird (1997) and Holden et al (2001) have shown that over 30% of runoff in peats moves through macropores, which results in water and nutrients being transferred between deep and shallow layers of the peat profile. Soil pipes (figure 5) can be several metres in diameter and are present in both continental and oceanic peatlands including patterned and a a p am i r e s .F o re x a m p l e ,t h e yh a v eb e e nr e p o r t e di nt h ep e a t l a n d so f Scandanavia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Indonesia, Canada, Siberia, Ireland and the UK (Jones 1981;Price 1992b;Mark et al 1995;Norrstrom & Jacks 1996;Jones et al 1997;Holden 2004Holden , 2005. There have been few detailed surveys of pipe density or pipe contribution to runoff production in peat catchments but, where limited measurements have been done (e.g.…”

The dynamics of natural pipe hydrological behaviour in blanket peat

“…Larger pipes have also been commonly reported in peatlands (e.g. Jones, ; Markov and Khoroshev, ; Woo and DiCenzo, ; Price, ; Norrstrom and Jacks, ; Jones et al ., ; Glaser, ; Gunn, ; Holden and Burt, ; Thorp and Glanville, ; Holden et al ., ; Holden, ; Rapson et al ., ). Soil conditions are generally too harsh for burrowing fauna in most peatlands, but peatlands may be conducive to piping because they are susceptible to rapid desiccation cracking.…”